ile he thought about it.

'You mean here? Now?"

Don Lundkwist's eyes flickered towards the sleeping figure of Jack

Brickman. 'You worried about him waking up?"

'Not really. He's on Cloud-Nine."

'So ... ?" Lundkwist looked at him expectantly.

'So - maybe some other time."

Lundkwist pointed to the sleeping Jack Brickman.

'Listen. You are not going to be upsetting this guy. In twelve years

on the wagons he must have walked past some heavy traffic. Right?"

Steve mulled the situation over.

Lundkwist tugged at Steve's parade suit, forcing him to take a step

towards her. She closed her trousered thighs against his legs. 'Come

on, Brickman, I never made it with you. And after today, I may never

see you again."

'Nothing I can do about that."

'Oh, yes there is." Lundkwist stood up, slipped her arms round his

waist and gently ground his genitals with the point of her pelvis.

'Five weeks from now I could be on a wagon train heading into Mute

territory. Six weeks from now I could cease to exist. Eight weeks

before my seventeenth birthday. If I'm going to go into the meat

business I want the satisfaction of knowing I've been with the best."

Without waiting for Steve's answer she lifted his trail-bag clear of

the bed, closed the sliding door to the shack, unzipped his tunic then

swiftly peeled off her own uniform and climbed onto the bunk.

Steve glanced at his guard-father. Jack Brickman's head was slumped

sideways on the pillow, his open mouth accentuating the hollowness of

his cheeks. He lifted his guard-father's hand a few inches then let it

go. It fell back limply onto his lap with the lifelessness that

characterized deep sleep. Steve turned back to Don Lundkwist and

undressed in his own good time. He ran his eyes casually over her

naked body. Neat. A strong neck and good square shoulders,

well-defined muscles without that bunchy look that some of the guys

went for. He lay down beside her.

Lundkwist ran an appraising hand along his shoulder, then down the side

of his chest onto his hips. 'I really get off on you, Brickman. How

come we had to wait three years for this?"

Steve shrugged. 'Busy, I guess. Okay, how do you want it?"

Don teased his mouth with her tongue. 'Every which way.

The works." She turned around and backed into him.

Underneath the deep UV-tan, her shoulders were covered with freckles.

Even though they had often been under the showers at the same time it

was something Steve had never noticed before. He snaked one arm

underneath her and up over her slim breasts. Don grabbed his other

hand before he had decided what to do with it, and slid it down between

her legs. 'Oh, yes,' she murmured. 'Oh, yes!" She arched her neck

and rubbed her face against his.

Steve closed his eyes and pictured her making it with that creep Gus

White. And the other guys. Saying the same thing, reacting the same

way. It was an accepted fact that by the end of the course almost

everybody had made it with everybody else. It was no big deal. If you

were that way inclined - and most guys were - you just went the rounds

on a regular basis.

Brickman was not so inclined. But don't get the wrong idea about this

young man. He was not lacking any vital parts, suffering from

dimensional deficiency, or bereft of the normal urges that come upon

young people of his age.

His voluntary celibacy merely reflected his pragmatic approach to

life.

Brickman had not gone the rounds for the simple reason that - while it

might afford some welcome relief- it was not part of the curriculum.

There were no marks awarded for jacking up, or bombing, one's fellow

cadets. It was not even regarded as a reliable way to make friends and

influence people. Consequently, it figured lower than nowhere on his

list of priorities. On the other hand, being Brickman, he could not

bear the thought of doing anything badly and now that he had allowed

Don to get to him, Steve wanted to do it right.

He held on like a limpet as Don ground her rump into his belly. It

felt like someone had lit a fire in his lap. It wasn't the first time

but it was the first time in years. He had buried the memory of how it

had felt at the back of his mind. Now it came flooding back, warming

his body and for a while, he forgot that his guard-father's wheelchair